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Mayor's Report — July 2025

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    Mayor's Report — July 2025
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Village of Red Hook Mayor’s Report July 2025

PERSONNEL

We have hired Irene Holsapple for the position of Payroll/Acct Clerk to take over from Angela Dourdis who will be retiring on August 18[th] . We look forward to welcoming Irene to the Village. Her first day will be August 12[th] .

WIIA – WATER PROJECTS:

We have a deduct change order on the agenda to close out the SCADA Upgrade project portion of the WIIA project.

SEWER PROJECT I:

The major outstanding item has been the Single Audit. We received the final from the audit firm on July 31, 2025. The final MWBE report from Carver Construction has been submitted to EFC. Carver did not meet their MWBE goals. They have requested an additional waiver which has been shared with EFC.

BENNER ROAD/TRIBUTARY COALITION:

I met with Zoe Evans and Cat Viega on Thursday, July 31[st] . We discussed a project of evaluating the wetland around the WWTP and a plan for improving the health of the wetland. We discussed possible grant opportunities going forward. More to come on this.

SEWER PROJECT II:

The Benner Road/Tributary Coalition and subsequently several residents have requested that the Village rescind the resolution adopting a negative declaration after completing the Full Environmental Assessment Form on July 15, 2024. I have reviewed this with our Land Use Attorney and Delaware Engineering, who both assisted the Village in it’s preparation, for their review and response.

The CPA grant application was submitted on July 30[th] – due date was July 31[st] .

SAWKILL WATERSHED COMMITTEE (SKWC) –

The Committee presented their report from their extensive sampling done on April 6, 2025. This presentation was made on July 16[th] at Town Hall. A recording is available on www.PandaTV.org. The - - - report is available on their website: https://sawkillwatershed.org/our work/water quality monitoring/

RED HOOK LIBRARY (RHPL):

The RHPL had their July board meeting on July 17[th] . Attendees included: President Anna Greig, Secretary Sarah deVeer, Board members - Leah Bahnatka, Gareth Davies, & Kelly French, Executive Director Alex Geller. Absent: Treasurer Grace Kachigan, Vice President Martha Tepepa.

For more information, you can find their board packet on the library’s website –

redhooklibrary.org/board-of-trustees. Their next board meeting will be Thursday, August 21[st] at 6:30pm at the library.

PUBLIC SPACES/ABRAHAMS PARK:

The Public Spaces Committee met on Saturday, August 2[nd] at 10am in Village Hall. The new charge for the committee was discussed.

The committee agreed to move their meetings to the 3[rd] Monday of the month. The next meeting will be August 18[th] at 7pm.

CLIMATE SMART COMMUNITY TASK FORCE:

The Task Force did not meet in July. There is a recommendation for members on tonight’s agenda. Our next meeting is scheduled for August 7[th] .

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  • Header reorganized from 'Village of Red Hook SEWER DEPARTMENT REPORT May 2025' to 'May 2025' followed by 'Village of Red Hook SEWER DEPARTMENT REPORT'
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May 2025 ## Village of Red Hook SEWER DEPARTMENT REPORT May 2025 At both plants, the UV light systems were repaired/replaced on Tuesday, May 13[th] so the UVs were back in full operation on May 14[th] . The addition of chlorine tablets was discontinued on May 14[th] . At the Old Plant, the valves were replaced on 5/16 & 17. The Sand filter was repaired and old sand was replaced with fresh sand. The Old Plant was brought back online as of 5/19/25. It takes a while to fill up the tanks in the plant, so the outflow began about a week later. Our first test samples since being back online were taken 5/28/25. The preliminary results from the Old Plant for Ammonia and Fecal Coliform are in compliance. The “bugs” are growing (200 on 5/25, 700 on 5/30) and will take some time to get up to the target quantity currently set at 2000. The operations of the New Plant have improved significantly; however, we are not yet in full compliance with our lab testing. PureStream, the manufacturer of the New WWTP, visited the WWTP the week of 5/19 to review the plant’s operations with Delaware Engineering and our team. The blowers need to be optimized and the current temporary pumps for the EQ tank will be replaced and made permanent. The weirs were adjusted but they were not optimal so they will be replaced. The “bugs” were measured at 2600 on 5/29. Engineer/Operator Robert Flores is making a drawing showing all modifications done and proposed to submit to DEC and DOH for approval. The flow out of the discharge pipe is clear and steady. Regarding odor issues, in May we had 4 odor complaints – two the same day/time: 5/1/25 – 21 Smith St., 6:25am – 10 minutes then gone 5/10/25 – 38 Cambridge St. & 20 Smith St. 8:30/8:45pm – “smells like sewer” “rotten eggs” 5/21/25 – 20 Amherst – 8:45pm – sewer smell The odor issues seem to come when there is a surge of wastewater going through the WWTP – which is what was happening 5/1 & 5/10. The one from 5/21 at 20 Amherst is not clear – the residence is located on the far side of Cambridge Dr & Kent Rd. When checked, all was in good order at the WWTPs. It remains to be seen, but so far, especially with the Old Plant now back in operation, the odor complaints have reduced, and the odor doesn’t appear to last long. Regarding the concerns for the wetlands and erosion of the sub-tributary, DEC sent a team from their restoration group to do a site visit of the Environmental Easement area on the WWTP parcel on May 15[th] . This site is located on the parcel owned by the Village where the WWTPs are located. DEC followed up with a letter dated June 2 responding to questions about the Notice of Violation, SPDES Permit Renewal, Wetland Concerns, Perx Property Cleanup Environmental Remediation, reporting on their site visit, and Health Concerns. They indicated that they did not observe any erosion around the WWTP outfall. They also reported that during the remedial program, it was determined that this site does not pose a significant threat and “further sampling and remediation are not planned at this time. The contaminant source area was removed, and any residual contaminant concentrations in the wetland were detected below the residential soil cleanup objectives and sediment guidance values.” We had our third public information meeting on June 5[th] where the above information was shared with the public. Graphs of the lab results for the WWTPs were shared from 2021, when the Village acquired the Old Plant, through May 2025. A timeline of odor complaints and action taken was also shared. I also have met with and received operator proposals from two companies. Another company said they were too busy. We will reach out to one or two more companies before we present a recommendation to the Board. We have been sampling weekly since the beginning of April and will continue until we have several weeks of full compliance.

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